President Obama and transperancy

Dear Friends,

An article in the middle of the first section of The New York Times this morning caught my eye.  It was entitled "Pentagon Loosens Restrictions for Press in Guantanamo" by Jeremy Peters (here).   As you may remember back in May four journalists were expelled from Guantanamo for releasing the name of an Army interrogator who was to be a witness in a trial at Guantanamo.  The Army considered the interrogator's name to be privileged information even though it had been previously reported in the news media and was generally known in the public domain.  Penalizing those journalists at the time was an outrage.

What the headline refers to as a loosening of restrictions is simply the application of logic and common sense.  How could the Pentagon penalize reporters who report what is already generally available to the public?  Is it any wonder that some of us liberals challenge President Obama's claim to be transparent.  When you restrict the freedom of the press, you are truly doing damage to our democracy, and you have no right to claim that you are being transparent.

We need to hold President Obama accountable for his claims of transparency and for his claims of supporting open government. 

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal